The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office and Asheville Police Department are working with the district attorney to enforce a state law banning commercial video gaming sweepstacks machines.

After a long court battle, the North Carolina Supreme Court recently gave law enforcement the go ahead to implement such a ban and local agencies began enforcing it Jan. 14. As of that time, anyone found in unlawful possession of video gaming machines will be subject to arrest and prosecution as well as seizure of any related devices or proceeds, according to a notice on the Buncombe County website.

To help get the word out about the changes and answer related questions, Sheriff Van Duncan and District Attorney Ron Moore recently held a press conference.

The goal of the press event, says Duncan, was “to get the word out to all the store owners, and video folks who are operating in Buncombe County, that these machines are illegal, that we are going to enforce this law.”